Irani Cup 2024: Sarfaraz Khan gave a befitting reply, played a strong innings after being out of the Kanpur Test
Team India defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets on the last day of the Kanpur Test match. Every player of Team India played his part in winning this match and the series by performing strongly in some way or the other. On Tuesday, when Team India was on the field against Bangladesh, at the same time, about 100 kilometers away from Kanpur, Sarfaraz Khan was also showing his batting prowess. Sarfaraz did not get a chance in the Kanpur Test, but he proved the team management's decision wrong with his strong innings in the Irani Cup. Not only Sarfaraz, but veteran batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer also played excellent innings.
The Irani Cup match between Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai and Rest of India started at Lucknow's Ekana Stadium on Tuesday, October 1. Through this match before the new Ranji season, Mumbai's team has a chance to test its preparations, while there are many players who are contenders for different places in Team India but are currently out of the team. Among these players, the first day was in the name of Sarfaraz, Iyer and Mukesh Kumar.
Mumbai came out to bat first in this match but its top order was sent back to the pavilion by fast bowler Mukesh Kumar. Mukesh, who was out of Team India due to the arrival of Akash Deep, sent Prithvi Shaw, 17-year-old debutant Ayush Mhatre and Hardik Tamore back to the pavilion with a score of just 37 runs. Mumbai, which was in trouble, needed its most experienced batsmen at such a time and captain Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer did the same. Rahane, who has been out of Team India for the last one year, shared a 102-run partnership with Iyer. Iyer, who was not selected for the Test series against Bangladesh, batted explosively but then failed to convert his start into a big score. Still, he scored 57 runs in 84 balls.
After this, Rahane got the support of Sarfaraz Khan. Sarfaraz, who made his Test debut in March this year, did not get a chance in the playing eleven of any Test against Bangladesh and was released in the middle of the Kanpur Test. Sarfaraz responded to this with his bat and scored a brilliant half-century to put the team in a better position. However, the star of the day was captain Rahane, for whom the doors of Team India were almost closed, but still he put in all his effort to save Mumbai. Rahane and Sarfaraz made a partnership of 98 runs till stumps and took the team to 237 runs for 4 wickets. For Rest of India, Mukesh took 3 and Yash Dayal took 1 wicket.